HiDrive Offers Users 5GB of Free Cloud-based Storage

A European cloud service is jumping headlong into the online storage wars here in the States. And it's put together an offer that will be tempting to a number of potential users -- in both consumer and small-business markets.

HiDrive Free, a service from Germany-based STRATO, one of Europe's largest Web hosting providers, launched in the U.S. market Jan. 20 by offering new users 5 gigabytes of free online storage. With HiDrive Free, users can back up their data at a central location, as well as access and share it from any Internet-enabled device, according to STRATO CEO Damian Schmidt.

Data stored with HiDrive Free can be accessed via a Web browser or through the HiDrive App, which is now available for Android, iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone 7 devices. The HiDrive Free service can also be mounted on to a user's computer like a local drive and supports Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

Schmidt said HiDrive Free employs strict safety measures, where data is stored in STRATO's certified and secure data center in Germany, which is governed by German data privacy law -- one of the strictest in the world in terms of data protection.

Users can sign up for a HiDrive Free account at no cost to start storing and sharing at this site.